Saryu no Setsugo
by ElizabethRoone
Summary: Kaiyo is a sweet young girl with a genuine love for humanity. She wants nothing more than for people to understand that she and her (hopefully) friend Gaara are not monsters. The story of Naruto retold through another pair of bright, purple eyes. GaaraXOC I hope you like it :) Feel free to leave comments and reviews.
1. Fire Burns

_Hi everyone! I would like to preface this work by saying that I do not own any of Naruto or its characters, but I love the series and I hope everyone enjoys this. I don't really watch the Anime I just read the manga but I do use the Country of Rivers in this piece bending the lore a little bit. I hope no one minds This will hopefully have several chapters (if it gets good reviews) and they'll probably come out about once a week. (I'm really busy and I usually revise and edit several times before I publish something.) But all that aside I hope you enjoy this story._

The Desert's Love

Prologue:

Fire Burns

Fire rained down over the village. Molten pebbles hailed their way through thatch roofs. Villagers screamed fleeing from the ashes. The village had once been so peaceful, a secret hideaway in a lush forest, hidden from the rest of the world. Now Madara had found them, the beasts who had escaped his iron grasp. He had found them, and this time he would kill _all_ of them. He knew they were hiding somewhere in this village, he would sweep them out with fire, and now with the power of the almighty Kyuubi at his fingertips, he would defeat them. He watched as his black flames gorged themselves on the remnants of houses, their thick mass consuming everything in their path and reducing it to ash. There was no hope for them now. Madara basked in the ambiance of desolation yearning to bring this same fate to his next target, the Hidden Leaf Village.

Madara gasped as thick talons closed around his neck, he had not expected a counter attack from a village of pacifists. Madara quickly slipped out of grasp and turned to face his opponent. There in front of him levitated a beast that had once been celebrated as the protector of nature and of men. His metallic scales reflected the eerie glow of the burning village. His mane brushed back from his face, flowing through a nonexistent wind. His ivory talons which had just been so close to finding revenge twitched in anticipation of the kill. His body coiled into a tight spring, ready to strike. Madara spat at the vermins feet.

"You think you can kill me, Dragon?" The beast lurched forward and Madara leapt out of the way flourishing a kunai to scrape down the beast's side. The knife simply slid along the hard mass of scales, leaving no mark. The dragon reared his head sending out an agonized cry, not of pain, but of remorse for his village. Madara could feel the beast's thoughts at the edge of his mind, trying to forge a path of mental communication, but he would not allow that. Madara forged his mind into an iron wall of rage focused on nothing but slaughtering the beast. He rushed forward with the kunai again, this time finding his mark in the beast's soft underbelly. The dragon roared in anger and dove onto Madara, sending him crashing onto the ground. The dragon's antlers dug into Madara's sides, pinning him down and suffocating him. Madara realized he could not take the beast on his own and called upon the power of the fox. The kyuubi again tried to resist his call, but Madara bent the fox's chakra to his will. He healed his sides and pushed the dragon back.

"If only ninjutsu or genjutstu would work on your kind," Madara scoffed, "I could have just tortured your wife into giving me your secrets." He worked on throwing the beast into a legendary dragon's rage. He knew if he could get the beast relying on pure dragon instinct to fight, he could easily defeat him.

"Or maybe I could have taken your daughter instead!" Madara taunted again. The dragon roared at Madara, a low beastly call that seemed to reverberate in the ground, calling on the chakra of the earth. Madara could see the fire rising in the back of the beast's throat and knew this was his chance. Madara rushed forward kunai in hand, and right before the beast could release his flames, Madara sunk the kunai as deep as he could into the soft flesh in the upper part of the beast's mouth. The dragon roared again, overwhelmed by the pain. The fire that had been welling in his throat now had nowhere to go and the chakra burst in his neck. Blood flowed from the knife wound, filling the beast's mouth and running down his throat. The blood boiled over in the heat left from the fire, putting the beast in unimaginable pain. Soon he was no longer able to keep his celestial form and the once mighty dragon shifted back into the form of a man.

"Pathetic." Madara grabbed hold of the man's long hair, yanking his head off the ground. "Tell me where you hid the rest!" Madara demanded before digging his knee into the man's chest. The man coughed, crimson blood splattering the ground. He was still too overwhelmed by the pain of the wound to speak.

"Tell me where you've hidden them!" Madara demanded once again, but the man would not answer. He simply lifted his head and glared in defiance. Madara lifted his fist and struck the man across the face as hard as he could, feeling the man's jaw crunch on impact. Madara knew he was wasting time, he could lose them if he didn't start tracking now.

"I will find them," Madara spat, "I will make certain that every last member of your family is dead." Madara drew another kunai from his belt this time ready to deliver the final blow. "I will rid this earth of its protectors. I will rid this earth of dragons."


	2. Sand Stings

The Desert's Love

Chapter One

Sand Stings

Kaiyo winced as her knees struck the gritty ground of the playground. The three boys gathered around her snickering and giggling at the tears forming in her eyes. Tato, the leader, pulled at her long purple hair while Benji and Kuno prodded her, calling her a freak. Kaiyo tried her best to keep her composure, not allowing her tears to soak into the sandy ground. She couldn't blame the boys for hating her, she knew she was strange. Her purple skin, hair, and eyes frightened the other children, causing them to keep their distance. However, Kaiyo was a gentle soul, and despite all the boys' teasing she couldn't bring herself to lash out and defend herself. Kaiyo knew if she wanted to she could beat the boys up, she was the best ninjutsu user of the sixth year students, but instead she only felt pity that their hearts could be so cold.

"Your parents aren't purple!" Tato chided, "So how is it you was born purple? You look like you came straight out of a crayon box, freak!" Kaiyo flinched at the words, only giving Tato a higher sense of satisfaction. It was true Kaiyo's parents looked normal. Why was she born a freak? Kaiyo decided she'd had enough of their teasing. She stood up, prepared for them to try and throw her back down. She was getting ready to push the weakest boy, Benji, out of the way, when a voice interrupted.

"Well you look like you eat too many carrots, you carrot head!" It was true the boy did have a bright stock of orange hair growing straight up from the crown of his head. Kaiyo turned around to see her best friend, Temari, running straight at Tato. Temari leapt into the air, spinning. She threw a round-house kick which skimmed right along Tato's nose. At first it appeared to have missed, but Temari's jutsu never failed. Blood burst from a cut along Tato's nose, Temari's wind had sliced straight through the flesh. Benji and Kuno, seeing their leader defeated, fled. Tato started bawling and calling for Sensei. Kaiyo felt her stomach lurch at the coppery smell of blood that assaulted her nose. She tried to hide her reaction, knowing hemophobia would automatically mark her as a bad ninja. She wished she could heal the boy, but her mother had warned her using such a powerful jutsu on the other children might just frighten them more. Tato sniffled and gave Kaiyo one last hateful glare before running away to tattle. Temari just laughed and started to brush off the hem of Kaiyo's kimono, the lavender sillk had paled at the ends, covered in sand.

"I still don't understand how your Mom lets you wear such pretty clothes to school. Father only lets me wear these things to ceremonies." Temari finished her cleaning and inspected the robe admiring the way the light fabric gleamed. "Not that I want to be so girly." Temari defended herself, "They're not practical."

"They're the only thing I own Tema-chan," Kaiyo replied. It was true Kaiyo's entire closet was filled with kimono's. Her parents claimed they were, only the respectable thing for a young lady to wear. Looking around the playground Kaiyo doubted and of the children present could pass as "young ladies". Even though she was only 13, Kaiyo had a calm, mature demeanor, which only helped to further separate her from the other kids in her class.

"You shouldn't have kicked Tato," Kaiyo criticized her savior.

"They were picking on you! I wasn't going to just watch," Temari scoffed, astounded Kaiyo could be so ungrateful.

"I'm happy you came to help me," Kaiyo apologized, "Thank you. I just don't want you getting in trouble with Sensei again cause of me." Temari had been sent to detention many times on account of cuts and bruises found on Tato's face. Kaiyo knew Temari's father treated her roughly and she also knew he wouldn't be happy about her rowdy behavior at school.

"Well, you're welcome," Temari smiled, "Don't worry so much about other people. Some of us know what we're doing."

Kaiyo laughed and took Temari's hand, "You wanna go play on the swings?" The two girls giggled and ran across the yard. A thought crossed Kaiyo's mind.

"Tema-chan, why don't we invite your brother to swing?" Temari stopped in her tracks and turned to recoil.

"You mean Kankuro," she spoke nervously, "I don't think he'd want to. He's playing foursquare with some other boys…" Her voice drifted off. Temari began rubbing her thumbs together silently praying Kaiyo wouldn't keep going.

"Not Kankuro, silly!" Kaiyo giggled, "Your younger brother, Gaara!" Temari flinched at the name. Her left leg still stung from the last time Gaara had tried to _play _with her.

"I don't understand why you like him so much!" Temari's voice was rising, "I thought you liked me!" Tears started to sting her eyes, Temari knew she was over reacting, but the pain brought from the thought of her younger brother playing with Kaiyo was too much. Kaiyo looked on in shock, unsure of why Temari was so upset.

"I..I'm sorry Tema-chan," Kaiyo's soothing voice couldn't reach Temari's ears, "I didn't realize you two were fighting."

"Whatever," Temari gathered her composure, "Why don't you go talk to him yourself." She then strode away to the swing set alone, not expect Kaiyo to follow. Kaiyo's heart stung. She hadn't meant to make Temari upset. Seeing Temari didn't want her company anymore, Kaiyo surveyed the playground searching for the younger brother.

She spotted his deep maroon hair shaded by the shadow of the school building's wall. Kaiyo made her way over. The boy lifted his head as she approached unsure if he needed to defend himself. Kaiyo said nothing. She gently eased herself onto the ground next to him. Gaara had built a sort of wall directly in front of him, to keep the other kids out. Upon closer inspection, Kaiyo could see rows of tiny windows, and a set of large double doors carved into the block of sand. A perfect sand replica of the school building. On the side facing Gaara there were small sand children carved in the yard. Kaiyo gasped when she found what must have been a little sand Temari, caught in thin air, delivering a round house kick to sand Tato's face.

"This looks amazing!" Kaiyo voiced her approval, but the red head did not respond. Kaiyo could see this would be another day of silence, so she settled herself in to continue her examination of the sand school. There in the middle of Tato and his goons she found what must have been sand Kaiyo. However, Kaiyo thought this sand girl was too beautiful to represent her. The sand girl had more detail than any of the other children, down to the small flowers that lined her kimono. Curious, she reached out her hand, wanting to feel the soft details crafted into the hard sand. She gently pressed her fingers to the girls face, and she collapsed. Kaiyo jumped back.

"I'm so sorry Gaara," Kaiyo turned to face him, afraid of how angry he would be. Instead, Gaara said nothing he simply raised his hand and Kaiyo watched in wonder as a new tiny Kaiyo was formed in his hands, this one just as perfect as the last.

"Its alright," he muttered before placing Kaiyo back in her place on the replica. However, to Kaiyo's surprise this time Gaara placed Kaiyo on the wall of the school yard.

"Why is there no little Gaara?" Kaiyo asked innocently. Gaara's hand twitched, and Kaiyo could see stress in his eyes.

"I don't like to look at myself much," he whispered before retreating back into silence. Kaiyo's young heart broke. She thought of herself looking into the mirror, wishing she hadn't been born with her violet skin. She wondered if Gaara felt the same way about his red hair, or the dark circles around his sea green eyes.

Kaiyo opened her mouth to speak when the taunting voice of Tato reached her ears. He had come back seeking revenge for his swelling nose.

"Look at the two freaks playing house together!" Tato chided, but his voice was too nasally to sound threatening. He pursed his lips together to make sloppy wet kissing sounds. Kaiyo felt the blood rush to her cheeks. Gaara said nothing but stood up behind Kaiyo, tense.

"We are _not _playing house!" Kaiyo protested, wishing Tato would leave the two of them alone. Tato would not relent. He stepped forward crushing the beautifully crafted sand school under his feet, the grains seeping into his sandals. Feeling victorious, Tato began to jump up and down crushing all of the delicate school children. He yelled triumphantly as the sculpture was reduced to a pile of worthless sand.

"What kind of a freak has to play with people made out of sand?" Tato taunted again, leaning in to place his face inches away from Gaara's. Gaara snarled.

"Leave him alone, Tato!" Kaiyo screamed and pushed herself between the two boys. Tato growled, "Get out of my way, purple!" Tato used his full weight to throw Kaiyo down. Kaiyo grunted as her elbow struck the ground. She let out a scream of pain and then felt bile fill the back of her throat, there was blood gushing from her opened elbow. She felt light headed, the school yard spinning around her. She heard Gaara scream and then she was gone, floating away from the pain into a dark sleep.


	3. Sea Green

The Desert's Love

Chapter 2

Sea Green

Kaiyo sat straight up, her head pounding from the sudden movement. She searched wildly around the room, looking for answers. She was greeted by the hard sand bricks of her own bedroom wall. They were painted sea green, how Kaiyo knew it was the color of the ocean she wasn't sure, but something about the soft shade helped put her mind at ease. The color reminded her of something else too, she explored her mind in confusion. What was she trying to remember? Then she remembered Tato pushing her onto the ground, and her strong hemophobia knocking her unconscious. There was something else too, Gaara's sea green eyes.

"Gaara don't hurt him," Kaiyo accidently spoke aloud, her memories mixing with the world around her. Kaiyo heard light footsteps running down the hallway, her bedroom door burst open. Her mother, Otami, flew in, landing herself right next to Kaiyo's bed. Kaiyo was comforted by the familiar smell of sliced ginger and the soft touch of her mother's hand on her forehead.

"Kai-chan!"Otami was breathing heavily, but she sighed in relief, "I'm so glad you're awake!" She wrapped her daughter in a warm embrace, her long brown hair tickling Kaiyo's neck. Otami released her hold, pushing Kaiyo back to a lying position. She gently lifted Kaiyo's arm to examine her wound.

"Yup, all gone," Otami smiled at her daughter. Kaiyo looked down at her elbow to see it was completely healed, not even a lilac scar left over on her violet skin.

"How long was I asleep?" Kaiyo asked, attempting to sit up again. This time the pain in her head was bearable and she was able to steady herself.

"Only a couple hours," her mother laughed, "I was wondering how long it would take you to heal that elbow. I'm guessing it was the blood that caused your faint?" Kaiyo blinked, only a couple of hours, if that was true why did her head hurt like she'd been in bed for days?

"Honey," Otami soothed, "You know you don't have to become a kunoichi. You can always follow me into the family business…" her voice drifted off, her brown eyes pleading with her daughter. Kaiyo's father had died before she was born, on a mission for the kazekage. Otami didn't want to lose another family member to the ninja world. Kaiyo wondered if following the family business would have been what her father wanted for her. She knew there was no way she could be a medical ninja with such strong hemophobia. Then again Kaiyo didn't want to have to live the life of a shop owner like her mother, constantly working to keep customers happy. Kaiyo was too shy to make eye contact with any adults who entered the store, much less try and sell them something.

"Well you don't have to make the decision today," Otami spoke trying to console her daughter, "I'm starting supper, so come out to the kitchen whenever you're ready." Otami rose to leave the room making her way out the door. Kaiyo found a question forming in her mind, and couldn't resist the urge to ask.

"Do you know what happened to Tato and Gaara?" Kaiyo asked. Otami's smile fell, only for an instant, a small flicker of truth. Kaiyo saw it.

"Who?" her mother feigned innocence, "are those friends of yours from school?" Kaiyo wondered what her mother would be trying to hide. She knew there would be no point calling Otami's bluff, she never admitted to a lie. Kaiyo dismissed the question and let her mother leave the room. She searched her head again, trying to remember anything past her bleeding elbow and Gaara's scream. Gaara's scream, he had screamed for her! Kaiyo felt guilty about the happiness in her chest. All she had wanted was to finally be acknowledged by Gaara as a friend. She had finally proven he wasn't a monster like the other children claimed. He had come to her rescue.

A smell drifted down the hallway, reaching Kaiyo's nose. The aroma of spicy cactus soup filled her thoughts. Kaiyo's stomach growled, demanding attention. Kaiyo complied and made her way down the hallway to the kitchen where her mother labored over the pot of boiling soup.

"Its almost finished," Otami called from the stove. Kaiyo's stomach growled again, why was she so hungry?

"I'll make drinks," Kaiyo offered and made her way to the cupboard. She pulled out two glasses, filling one with water and the other with her mother's favorite tea. Kaiyo caught a glance of her mother's cacti collection growing in the kitchen window, one of them had started to bloom, a beautiful red flower growing straight out the top. Kaiyo took the glasses over to the dining table, which was just big enough for two place settings, a constant reminder that only two people lived in the house. She placed the glasses and sat down on the homemade seat cushion, Otami loved to sew. Otami lifted the heavy boiling pot off the stove and carried it toward the table. Then suddenly, Otami's feet were out from under her, Kaiyo screamed when she heard the loud crack of her mother's head hitting the floor. The heavy pot fell on Otami, cactus soup pooling on the floor around her, mixed with blood from the back of her head.

"Mom!" Kaiyo screamed and knelt by her mother's side, the coppery tang of blood filled her mind, and Kaiyo felt nausea building in the back of her throat. Kaiyo would not let it overcome her. If she could stay conscious just long enough to cast her jutsu she knew Otami would be alright. Otami lay unconscious on the ground lost to the world around her. Kaiyo gently rolled her mother onto her side, she knew it was bad practice to move an injured patient, but she had to see the severity of the wound. Kaiyo could see where Otami's head had split on contact with the hard brick floor. Blood was still spilling onto the floor and Kaiyo knew she needed to act quickly. Desperately Kaiyo threw her hands together, her ring fingers bent to her palms while her other fingertips rested against one another, the sign of the bird. Kaiyo released her consciousness into the earth, feeling the pulsing life force of the planet melding with her own. She reached out to the chakra of the earth around her, redirecting it inside of her opening her initial and healing gates. She let the chakra of the earth rip through her body, the feeling was exhilarating as if all the power of the universe was inside of her, under her control. Kaiyo then directed the chakra again, forcing it all into the palms of her hands. Her hands felt as if they should have been burning, she could feel the heat of the chakra rolling through her body, but there was no pain.

"Sanka no kogane no cho!" Kaiyo cried out the ancient command forcing the charka out of her hands and into life. Several golden butterflies, creatures of pure chakra, poured from her hands surrounding Otami. Kaiyo directed the floating creatures to the back of her mother's head. This time Kaiyo formed her hands into a cross, the sign for release.

"Iyasu!" Kaiyo poured her heart into the word and the chakra responded, surrounding Otami in a golden light. Each of the butterflies poured their chakra into the wound, the chakra of the earth instinctively knowing how to stitch each piece back together. New flesh formed at the edges of the wound and like magic, Otami's head was returned to normal, completely healed. Kaiyo waited anxiously for Otami to open her eyes. The seconds ticked away like hours and tears started to well in Kaiyo's eyes. Finally Otami coughed and slowly opened her eyes.

"Mom!" Kaiyo smiled and hugged her mother. Otami glanced around, confused, the smell of old cactus soup made her gag.

"Kaiyo what happened?" Otami looked to her daughter for answers and saw the tears forming in Kaiyo's eyes.

"You slipped again," Kaiyo sobbed and clung to her mother's shirt. Her mother had always been a little off balance and sometimes would fall for no apparent reason. Otami insisted it was just an inner ear condition she was born with, and Kaiyo had noticed it getting progressively worse over the last few years.

"Did you heal me?" Her mother asked, her voice stern. Kaiyo sat in silence staring down at her hands.

"I asked you a question Kaiyo." Her mother's eyes were lit and Kaiyo squirmed not wanting to answer.

"You know how dangerous that jutsu is Kaiyo!" her mother scolded, "Someone could have gotten hurt. You could have made it worse!"

Kaiyo's eyes stung and she lashed out, "I directed it Mom! Everything was fine! I had it under control! I wasn't going to just let my mom bleed out in front of me cause she was clumsy and slipped on nothing again!"

Otami glared at her daughter, her eyes filled with a mother's fury. Kaiyo looked away and her heart fell down into her stomach when she spotted the cactus in the window. Its large red flower had wilted, and the whole truck of the cactus had shriveled into a brown lump. Otami turned to see what her daughter was staring at.

"See! What if there had been a person walking down the street? Or a cat napping near the side of our house? You would have sucked their chakra out instead!"

Kaiyo's face burned with shame and she looked down at her hands. How could such a great gift of healing be seen as such a monstrosity? She wanted to be able to control it, to only pull chakra from the lives of plants and insects, but she knew her mother was right. Often times Kaiyo's jutsu would latch on to the strongest life force in the room and drain it until the healing was done. If it was something minor, like a small scratch, Kaiyo could simply use her own chakra to heal. However, in larger cases she had to rely on the chakra of the earth and life around her, not only for power, but for wisdom on how to heal her target.

Otami sighed and reached out to hold Kaiyo's hand. She then pulled her daughter into a sticky, cactus soup hug.

"I understand and I'm thankful you helped me Kaiyo," Otami soothed. She reached to gently push Kaiyo's hair behind her ears. "I just want you to be careful. The Kazekage would not be happy if he figured out the full extent of your." Otami paused trying to find the right word, "the full extent of your gifts."

Kaiyo relaxed, happy her mother understood. Otami tried to rise off the floor, but stumbled. Kaiyo stood and helped her mother find steady feet. Otami ran her hands across her apron and let out a groan of disgust at the soup that had soaked its way through to her clothes.

"How about we get cleaned up and go out for ramen?" Otami asked and smiled at her daughter. Kaiyo's stomach let out and audible growl and Otami laughed. Kaiyo giggled and quickly agreed. The two quickly cleaned the kitchen and prepared to go out for dinner.


End file.
